diff --git a/integration/client/restart_monitor_test.go b/integration/client/restart_monitor_test.go
index e7d0025e6..3765c895d 100644
--- a/integration/client/restart_monitor_test.go
+++ b/integration/client/restart_monitor_test.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/runtime/restart"
 	srvconfig "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/server/config"
 	"github.com/containerd/typeurl/v2"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	exec "golang.org/x/sys/execabs"
 )
 
@@ -144,6 +145,9 @@ version = 2
 	t.Run("Always", func(t *testing.T) {
 		testRestartMonitorAlways(t, client, interval)
 	})
+	t.Run("Paused Task", func(t *testing.T) {
+		testRestartMonitorPausedTaskWithAlways(t, client, interval)
+	})
 	t.Run("Failure Policy", func(t *testing.T) {
 		testRestartMonitorWithOnFailurePolicy(t, client, interval)
 	})
@@ -254,6 +258,84 @@ func testRestartMonitorAlways(t *testing.T, client *Client, interval time.Durati
 	t.Logf("%v: the task was restarted since %v", time.Now(), lastCheck)
 }
 
+func testRestartMonitorPausedTaskWithAlways(t *testing.T, client *Client, interval time.Duration) {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skip("Pause task is not supported on Windows")
+	}
+
+	const (
+		epsilon = 1 * time.Second
+		count   = 20
+	)
+
+	var (
+		ctx, cancel = testContext(t)
+		id          = strings.ReplaceAll(t.Name(), "/", "_")
+	)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	image, err := client.GetImage(ctx, testImage)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	container, err := client.NewContainer(ctx, id,
+		WithNewSnapshot(id, image),
+		WithNewSpec(
+			oci.WithImageConfig(image),
+			longCommand,
+		),
+		restart.WithStatus(Running),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if err := container.Delete(ctx, WithSnapshotCleanup); err != nil {
+			t.Logf("failed to delete container: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	task, err := container.NewTask(ctx, empty())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if _, err := task.Delete(ctx, WithProcessKill); err != nil {
+			t.Logf("failed to delete task: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	if err := task.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	statusC, err := task.Wait(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	t.Log("pause the task")
+	require.NoError(t, task.Pause(ctx))
+	defer func() {
+		require.NoError(t, task.Resume(ctx))
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case <-statusC:
+		t.Fatal("the paused task is killed")
+	case <-time.After(30 * time.Second):
+	}
+
+	status, err := task.Status(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if status.Status != Paused {
+		t.Fatalf("the paused task's status is changed to %s", status.Status)
+	}
+}
+
 // testRestartMonitorWithOnFailurePolicy restarts its container with `on-failure:1`
 func testRestartMonitorWithOnFailurePolicy(t *testing.T, client *Client, interval time.Duration) {
 	var (
diff --git a/runtime/restart/monitor/monitor.go b/runtime/restart/monitor/monitor.go
index 67f0d8011..63d3552c4 100644
--- a/runtime/restart/monitor/monitor.go
+++ b/runtime/restart/monitor/monitor.go
@@ -171,9 +171,15 @@ func (m *monitor) monitor(ctx context.Context) ([]change, error) {
 		// which will result in an `on-failure` restart policy reconcile error.
 		switch desiredStatus {
 		case containerd.Running:
+			switch status.Status {
+			case containerd.Paused, containerd.Pausing:
+				continue
+			default:
+			}
 			if !restart.Reconcile(status, labels) {
 				continue
 			}
+
 			restartCount, _ := strconv.Atoi(labels[restart.CountLabel])
 			if labels["containerd.io/restart.logpath"] != "" {
 				logrus.Warn(`Label "containerd.io/restart.logpath" is no longer supported since containerd v2.0. Use "containerd.io/restart.loguri" instead.`)